Trouble with Time
by PurpleNinjaCat278
Summary: Anything can go awry when you have infinite possibilities in the palm of your hands. When Elizabeth mistakenly releases a tear, permanently sending both her and Booker to modern day New York City, how will they cope with all of the changes? Especially the lurking dangers stalking them down... AU! Booker and Elizabeth are NOT related!
1. A Tear into Time

**Firstly, I would like to say that the idea for this story was not my own. I acknowledge and give my best regards to the my faithful friend, . He is the one who gave me the idea and courage to write this story. Please, if you could, I recommend checking out his page and stories. He is an awesome dude.  
**

**I hope you enjoy this story. Please review and perhaps leave a favorite/follow afterwards. :)  
**

* * *

_March 17, 1913_

_After what seem to be an eternity, I finally brought Elizabeth to her final destination: New York. When we arrived, the city was its usual self. It bustled with activity from different sources: vendors selling assorted junk-food products and souvenirs to crowds of both locals and tourists moving in clumps that looked almost like a colony of ants._

_It was good to be back home. It was strange though. The new US president, Woodrow Wilson, was acting unlike himself. Even though he lived in Washington DC, I was informed from many newspaper boys about his psychotic behavior lately. He was acting like a tyrant, crazed with power._

_Anyways, for now, I focus on my own mission and to finish it. Elizabeth and I were both beaten with exhaustion; the journey here wasn't easy. It took many days of walking, taking the train, and occasionally stealing and riding a horse whenever we came across a farm._

_We found a nearby and cheap hotel to rest our weary bodies._

_It's getting late; I better get some shut-eye._

I slid the pen into my pocket and closed my journal, placing it into my bag. Standing up from the chair, I stretched my stiff legs and walked over to the window. Even at two in the morning, New York City still buzzed with movement and shined brightly with flashing lights.

I turned around, immediately spotting Elizabeth asleep on the bed. She fell fast asleep a few hours ago. A strewn of soft snores drifted out from her and she slightly fidgeted in her sleep, clutching the pillow in her arms tightly. I smiled as I walked over to her bedside. She looked peaceful as she slept; her chest heaved ever so slightly and her face twitched occasionally, as if she was having a nightmare. She probably was. All of the hardship and violence we went through surely mentally and emotionally scarred her for some time.

A piece of her brown hair fell upon her face, disturbing her complexion. I reached down and gently brushed it away. Still, she did not wake up. I smiled again and bent down to give her a peck on the forehead.

I straightened up with a sour look on my face. _Did I just give her a kiss?_ I thought, looking back out of the window to distract me. _"I don't know what's gotten into me… but… whatever."_I stepped into the pile of blankets and pillows on the floor next to the bed, where I'll be sleeping.

I didn't feel comfortable enough sleeping with Elizabeth, or just sleeping in the same bed as her. I laid down and pulled some of the blankets over me. Sleep, sure enough, took hold of me under its alluring grasp and I fell under its hypnotizing spell.

* * *

I woke up in the morning to bright sunlight shining in my face. I shielded my eyes with a hand and stood up. My back ached from sleeping on the hard wooden floor, but I felt better than what I did the previous day, when exhaustion nearly overpowered me.

Outside I heard the typical sounds of a big city: cars zooming by along with the frequent honking of horns, people shouting for taxis or people just shouting in general, and once in a while, a police or ambulance siren. I swiped a hand over face and rubbed the remaining sleep out of my eyes, then continued to stand up, stretching every sore limb in my body.

I realized Elizabeth was gone. The covers on the bed were messed up and not properly made up, unlike of someone like Elizabeth, and I could still see the outline of her body on the bed. Making my way around the room, I gazed out of the window. There was nothing really to see, nothing interesting, at least.

Suddenly, I heard a scream. It was a piercing sound that made me jump in place, and I recognized it.

Frantic and panicky, I called out, "Elizabeth?" Again I heard the scream. It was definitely hers.

I quickly ran around the room, trying to pinpoint the location of the sound. It sounded like it was coming outside, from the fire escape exit. I opened the window and shoved my head out; the morning breeze blew through my hair and cooled down my now-sweaty face.

My eyes flew around below. It was quite a drop. Even though I wasn't afraid of heights, my stomach began to feel queasy. Shaking off the sickly feeling, I finally found where Elizabeth's screaming was coming from.

A duo of men dragged her along the rooftops of the neighboring building. She screamed again.

"Elizabeth?! Elizabeth, I'm coming!" I searched around the room and found my bandolier, pistol, and shotgun. Slinging the bandolier over my shoulders and shoving the pistol into the holster on my belt, I leaped out of the window and onto the fire escape.

Elizabeth seemed to have spotted me and began screaming, "Booker! Booker! Help me!"

One of the men looked up to where she was screaming and took out a revolver. Aiming it directly at me, he pulled the trigger. The shot rang out, echoing throughout the thick building walls. The crowd of people below us scattered like a flock of birds escaping a mischievous cat's deadly pounce.

The man, luckily, was a terrible shot and the bullet was launched into the brick wall only a foot away from my shoulder. I stumbled back in surprise, but managed to grab hold of the metal railing before plunging to an unfortunate, and messy, death.

The many fire exits above me were shaped in a monkey-bar form, like the ones found in children playgrounds. Strapping the shotgun on my back, I leaped forward and grabbed the nearest metal bar to me. One by one, I traveled across the "monkey-bars", feeling mostly like a chimpanzee at this point.

At last, I got to the end and jumped down onto the other building's rooftop. The men and Elizabeth were already across the rooftop, when a strange flying mechanism appeared right where they were. The flying device seemed to be on the kidnapper's side, since one of the men waved to it to descend a bit lower.

"Hey! Stop! STOP!" I shouted to the men, but had no luck. The flying machine was creating a very loud noise.

I quickly pulled out my pistol and aimed an accurate shot right at one of the men. The shot made no sound, since the flying mechanism's engine noise concealed most of the bang. The man to the right of Elizabeth didn't see it coming. He fell to the ground as blood exploded from his forehead. The other man jumped in surprise, yet he didn't let his grip on Elizabeth loosen.

The man saw me and started to pull out his gun, when Elizabeth stepped on his foot. He yelled in pain, but it was cut off as she forcefully pushed him off the building, sending him falling to his fate.

We ran to each other. She hugged me and even after the hug, she still clutched onto my arm. She had begun to cry, tears sliding down her cheeks like rain droplets on a glass window. I shushed her softly, telling her it's alright and that everything's okay now, that she's safe. That was a lie.

The flying mechanism soared in closer to us. All of a sudden, a man appeared at the opening. That's when I recognized him. It was Woodrow Wilson!

"Well I'll be…" I straightened up as I spotted the US president.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Booker DeWitt?" Woodrow arched an eyebrow charmingly at me. "Hello there, boy,"

"Oh, hello Mr. President Wilson, sir," I felt uneasy and nervous. This was my first time meeting a historical figure like Woodrow Wilson himself.

"I see you're the guardian of Elizabeth here, eh? Or perhaps the brother, father, husband… What are you to her?"

I felt myself blush when he mentioned "husband". "Uhh, no, sir, you see we're…" I paused for a second, trying to think of what to say.

"We're fiancés!" Elizabeth suddenly exclaimed.

I stared at her with my mouth wide open as if she had just slapped me across the face. "What are you talking about?" I whispered to her.

"Just play along with it, okay?" she responded, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Ah, so you're a husband-to-be, huh, Booker?" Woodrow asked, his lips opening into a smile. "Good man. But I'm sorry to say that I have to take your fiancée."

"Take her? What the hell are you talking about?" I growled, pushing Elizabeth behind me in a protective way.

"I hear she has powers…powers that can maybe take over the world, hmm? I want that power. I _need_ that power." Woodrow suddenly had a sly and devilish grin on his face.

"No, you don't. You're just a crazy son-of-a-bitch who has gone insane with power! Mr. President, you gotta snap out of this!" I said.

"Now, now, Mr. DeWitt… You do not talk to the President like that, EVER." A team of elite soldiers jumped out of the flying mechanism like programmed robots. They wielded all kinds of weapons: guns and swords, to tomahawks and medieval torture devices.

"Kill him, and then take the girl." Woodrow said, before the doors slid closed and the flying machine ascended, vanishing into the clouds.

"Booker, what do we do?!" Elizabeth frantically asked, her hands clutching my shoulders.

"Stay behind me; I got this," Just as I was about to lift my shotgun to shoot, a flash of light disrupted my vision and everything went black.


	2. Everything Has Changed

**So I had the sudden realization that usernames cannot be shown on this website, which sucks... Let me try this again. Dr. arch angel (Just capitalize the "A" in Archangel and push it closer to "Dr." Ta-da!) He is my fabulous friend who came up with the idea for the story.**

**This is a longer chapter than what I usually write, but it's very, very good (at least in my ****perspective) There are some hints and tricks throughout the entire chapter, and if you can pinpoint them, I'll give you a cookie! For real... Or perhaps a shout-out. Who knows?**

* * *

The moment I woke up, I knew everything had changed. I was on my back and Elizabeth was looming above me, desperately trying to bring me back to conscious. I stood up with a jolt, my mind racing with all of the images, colors, sounds…that I had just experienced.

"Booker, calm down…" she comforted, placing a relaxing hand on my tense shoulder.

"What…what happened?" I asked, slightly trembling.

"I opened a tear for us to escape," she explained.

"But why? I mean, I could have easily taken out those guys back there…"

"I know you could have, but even if you did, Woodrow would still be hunting me down. Booker, I had to do it. Please don't be angry at me…" she looked at me with those big blue eyes that I just couldn't resist.

"Oh, I'm not angry at you. Not one bit. I just have one question: what time period did you send us to?" I asked, standing up and brushing off my clothes.

We seemed to be enclosed in an alleyway. Large green containers holding garbage and waste lined the walls, litter was scattered across the dirt ground, and a random alley cat leapt down from above, stopping briefly to stare us down, then went back to pick at a half-eaten chicken leg on the ground.

The air stunk of garbage and sewer, which are two of the worst smells ever.

"I know we're still in New York, but I'm not sure the time period…" Elizabeth walked around, stopping to watch the alley cat make its way back to its home in the upper building, chicken leg in mouth.

"Come on, let's go see." I began making my way out of the alleyway and came across one of the most beautiful, yet absurd, sights ever. It surely was New York City…but different looking. It looked more advanced, and almost futuristic.

The lights were bigger and brighter than ever. Moving pictures on towering buildings caught my attention; one had half-naked women in colorful undergarments, strutting around and modeling. Now that one I enjoyed immensely. The other one had an intense, epic bit where a man in a red, white, and blue costume ran around, punching some masked guy in the face. He also threw around a star-spangled shield.

At the end of it, the words "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" showed below along with "Summer 2014". 2014? Oh God, we really went into the future!

I looked around and saw a large, yellow glowing "M". A crowd of people were flooding out of the department where the giant "M" shined.

I ran back to Elizabeth. "Oh my God, you won't believe this! We're in the year 2014!"

"Really? Let me go see this for myself," she marched past me and looked around. I walked next to her and looked at her. She looked astonished.

"Wowww… This surely doesn't look like 1913…"

"You're damn right. C'mon, let's go explore around." I took her hand and led her into the big city. We were suddenly engulfed in a giant swarm of people; people who definitely did not look like what they did back in the early 1900's. Women no longer wore dresses all of the time. They now wore tight looking pants with various shoes. Some shoes were colorful enough to confuse a unicorn, and others were plain, yet nice looking.

Men looked sort of the same, but they're clothing was much more fashionable and comfortable-looking. We passed a trio of costumed weirdoes who were dressed up as colorful monsters. One was fluffy and red, the other was blue and holding a cookie, and the third was a yellow bird-looking creature.

"What the hell…" I stared at them as they passed.

Elizabeth just laughed at them and looked like she was having the time of her life, despite the bustling people going by and knocking into us constantly.

We finally made it into wide, less-crowded space. We had an extraordinary view of New York City of the future. Suddenly a child's voice rang out from behind us.

"Hey guys, look! 1900's themed cosplayers!" A little girl, accompanied by two older boys, ran to us. They looked excitedly at us, as if they've never seen our kind before.

"Can we get a picture with you guys?" One of the older boys asked.

"Picture…?" But before either Elizabeth or I could express our confusion, the three of them crouched in front of us, making funny and ridiculous faces. An older woman stood a couple feet away, aiming some kind of mechanical device at us.

I looked at Elizabeth, but she was looking at the older woman, a smile plastered onto her face. I did the same, well; at least I managed a smirk.

"Thank you!" The little girl gave Elizabeth a small hug and ran off to her mother. The two boys lingered behind, but focused their attention on me.

"Whoa…Cool guns, dude." The one on the right, with shaggy light brown, gazed in amazement at both the shotgun on my back and the pistol on my belt.

"Are they real?" The other one, with shorter, spiky brown hair, asked.

"Uh, yeah." I responded.

"Prove it," The shaggy haired boy said.

I was even about to prove it, when their mother called out for them to get going. "Whoops, sorry. Maybe another time. Here ya go," The boy slipped some kind of green paper into my hand, and then ran off with the rest of his family.

"What's that?" Elizabeth asked as I looked at the paper the boy handed me.

"I dunno, but I think it's money." I said.

"Cool! Now we can buy stuff! Or maybe get a hotel first," she insisted.

"Hold up, Elizabeth. You have to bring us back to 1913, you got it?" I demanded.

"What? But why? Do you not like it here?" she did a little swirl, her dress falling like bed sheets upon her feet.

"Well, it's fine. I just want to back to our old time period. I'm not use to everything now…"

"But Booker… Woodrow…he's looking for me back then. Do you not care if I got taken and used for power?!" she became angry and stomped away to sit on a stone bench overlooking a tall statue. Other people sat in the rows of stone seats, talking with each other, eating, or observing the fabulous sight before them.

I followed her and sat next to her. "Look, Elizabeth… I do care about you, very much to be exact. But I just don't really like this new era you brought us into. It's all foreign to me…"

"But… it's New York! Good ole NY, eh?" Elizabeth chuckled.

"Yeah, but not the same. Everything's different." I stared at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Booker, but I can't open a tear back to 1913. I just feel all drained from power."

"What? What do you mean?" I looked at her.

"I mean all my power was drained from opening the tear to this time period. I can't open another."

"Preposterous! I've seen you open many tears one after another without breaking a single sweat!" I said.

"That's because I'm opening little tears that bring devices or simple things into the real life. I've never done such a huge leap into the future, though." She watched a group of tourists move their way across the platform, lights flashing as they aimed the picture taking mechanisms all around.

I let out a frustrated sigh and passed a slightly shaky hand through my messy hair.

"You're hair's a mess," Elizabeth pouted at my disheveled brown locks. "You should get that styled, and maybe cut too. It's getting a bit long,"

I stood up from the bench, letting out an annoyed groan. "Fine, fine. I'll get my hair fixed but first, we must find a place to rest."

"Excuse me, sir!" Just as Elizabeth and I were going to leave, a female voice rang out from behind me. A young woman in her early twenties waddled my way, holding out a colorful paper brochure. She wore a promiscuous looking outfit with black stockings, black high heels, a black and white striped corset, and a small, black top hat. There was a red carnation on the fold of her vest, adding a bit of color to the penguin looking costume.

"Make sure to check out "Chicago"! Playing right here in the Broadway theaters!" she enthusiastically stated.

"What's that?" I looked at her confusingly with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, it's none other than one of the most popular Broadway shows here in New York City!" she chimed.

"What's Broadway?" I asked. She looked at me as if a second head was sprouting from my neck.

"I take it you're not from around here, right?" she guessed, flipping a strand of golden hair away from her face.

"No, I am. Just not from this time period. I'm actually from the year 1913." I told the entire truth, but didn't think she would believe a single word that came out of my mouth.

She began laughing, a contagious, high-pitched sound that made my ears want to commit suicide. "Oh, you're so funny! Are you a comedian? Anyways, you're a cutie… Here's my number," She took out a piece of paper, scribbled something on it, and then slipped it into my fingers. As she walked by me, she whispered into my ear. "I hope to see you around again…"

Then she walked away to disturb a group of Asian-looking tourists conjugating over a small map.

I stared after her, and then had the nerve to look at her note. A series of numbers were written in very nice, cursive writing with a small heart drawn at the end. I didn't understand what it meant at all so instead I shoved it into my pocket.

"What did she give you?" Elizabeth asked.

My face turned bright crimson. "Uhh, nothing. Just a brochure for some play here,"

"Oooh, I love plays! We should go see it," she recommended, jumping up and down like a child.

"Sure, but we gotta go find a place to spend the night. It's getting dark," Just as I said, the sun was setting over the horizon and the lights grew brighter than what it was before. I looked around for the blonde woman and found her conversing with another woman in the same attire.

"Excuse me, ma'am…" I walked up to her.

"Oh honey, you can just call Louise," her green eyes glinted under the last lights of the sun. "What do you need?"

"Do you know any cheap hotels around here?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable under the other woman's seductive gaze on me.

"There's a Holiday Inn just around the corner there," she pointed to the destination of the hotel. "It's pretty cheap. Well, cheaper than most of the other hotels around here."

"Okay. Thank you, Louise." Just as I was going to turn around to leave, she placed a gloved hand on my arm.

"Wait right there. What's your name, good-looking?" her red lips grinned. I had to admit, she was quite a beauty. I couldn't help but find myself slightly attracted to her.

"Booker," I said, calmly and clearly.

"Well, Booker, would you like me to come along with you to your hotel?" she licked her lips seductively. I felt my face turn burning hot and sweat began to pool around my forehead.

"Uhh, no thanks, miss. You see, I'm with her," I pointed to Elizabeth, who was wandering around, staring at the bright lights and signs above. "She's my…fiancée."

"Oh," Louise suddenly let go of me, disappointment shadowing her face. "I didn't realize you were getting married. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, miss. But between you and me, if everything goes wrong with our marriage, I'll be coming to you."

Louise grinned and puckered her lips at me. "Oh, you naughty boy. I'll be waiting." And with that, she stalked away with her other woman companion at her side.

I moved back to Elizabeth's side, trying my best not to look either embarrassed or sexually aroused. "Okay…there's a cheap hotel right around the corner over there," I titled my head toward where Louise pointed earlier.

"Okay! But wait…do we have enough money?" Elizabeth's question made me want to slam my head repeatedly into that rock-hard statue.

"Dammit! I completely forgot about that…" I shoved my hands into my pockets and paced back and forth.

"We could use the silver eagles we have," Elizabeth suggested.

I scratched at the stumble on my chin. Afterwards, I slid a hand through my hair. "I don't know… I'm not sure if this time period uses those."

"We could try. Who knows; maybe it will work," she said.

"Alright, we could try. But there's no way in hell that we will be sleeping in the streets tonight."

* * *

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't take that kind of money." The front-desk clerk looked at the pile of silver eagles, then to me, through her large, dark rimmed glasses. She continued to smack her lips loudly as she chewed on gum. Her fingers made odd _click click click _sounds as she ordered them to press down on a strange form of mechanics.

"Ma'am…" I began, trying to swallow the rising vile in my throat. "Please, you have to let us spend at least one night here… You see, we're not from around here."

"Ah, a pair of tourists, huh?" The woman guessed, her gaze briefly looking at us, then going back to look at the screen of the mechanism.

"No, not really. We're from here, just not from this time period."

The woman stopped, her eyes averting upward to stare at me. "What?"

"We're not from this time period," I repeated. "We are from the year 1913, and we're not use to everything around here," The woman continued to stare at me as if I was a crazed psychopathic murderer threatening her with the gun on my back.

"I see… Well, give me a second." She pulled out a device and put it up to her ear. After a moment, she turned her head away from us and whispered something into. After that, she placed the device back down and straightened up, entwining her fingers together. She beamed brightly at us.

Elizabeth and I exchanged confused looks.

Only seconds passed when suddenly two burly men burst through the doors, walking straight to us. They both wore similar outfits: Navy blue uniform with a shiny badge on their chest. A belt rested on their waists, holding everything from a holstered gun, baton, pepper spray, handcuffs, and other strange mechanical devices. They were definitely police officers.

"Come along, big guy," One of them said in a husky voice. He grabbed both of my arms with such a strong grip, not even I could get out of it.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Just calm down. We aren't arresting ya'll," As we went through the doors, pain engulfed my body in its treacherous claws as I was thrown down the stairs, and onto the hard ground. I rolled around in utter agony, clutching my bruised ribs. Luckily, they spared Elizabeth. They set her at the top of the stairs, yet pushed her slightly until she skittered down, but didn't fall entirely.

She brushed herself off, glaring back at the two men, and ran to me. "Booker! Are you okay?" she cradled my head and placed a comforting hand on my chest.

"Yeah…" I slowly stood up and got to my feet. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit bruised, but I've been through much worse."

"Good." She smiled at me. "Why did they do that?"

"I don't know. But that woman clearly had a thing against silver eagles…" I groaned as the pain jolted up my side.

Elizabeth giggled softly, but her jubilant expression sunk as she noticing the two officers still hanging around. They seemed to whispering to each other, while casting suspicious glances at me. I stayed still, my eyes trained on a yellow taxi honking and picking up a young couple, yet I strained my ears to try and pick up what the men were saying.

"You see that, Ricky?"

"See what, exactly?"

"What, are you blind? Tough guy down there has weapons on him."

"They could be fake, possibly painted Nerf guns. Kenny, him and his little girlfriend look a whole like cosplayers to me."

"Cos-what?"

Ricky sighed heavily. "They wear costumes and pretend to me fictional characters."

"Oh, I see. Well, those guns look awfully real to me."

"I suppose they do. C'mon, let's go see for ourselves."

I straightened up and pretended to be fixing the loose, dangling red tie around my neck. I attempted to nudge Elizabeth but she was well into her daydream world, gazing upward at the enormously tall skyscrapers and many household buildings.

"Hello there, sir," Kenny smiled. Ricky nodded politely, but remained silent.

"Uhh, hello," I responded.

"How are you doing?" Kenny asked.

"Well, besides my bruised ribs due to you throwing me down the stairs, I'm just great!" I answered quite sarcastically. Kenny; however, didn't seem one bit fazed.

"Okay, good! I happened to notice those realistic weapons you have on you. May I ask what kind are they?"

I hesitated in answering, fidgeting with a button on my vest. I looked over at Elizabeth, but she still wasn't paying any attention to this conversation. This time she was chatting with a family of complete strangers. I groaned in annoyance, followed by a sigh.

"Sir?" Ricky looked at me worriedly.

"Yeah? Oh, sorry. Well, this is just a simple pistol," I motioned to the gun attached to my belt. "-and an authentic China Broom shotgun." I pointed to the one of my back.

"China Broom shotgun…" Kenny laughed. "Ridiculous. Did you make that name up?"

"Nope, it's an actual thing." I stared intensely at them. My entire body had begun to tremble slightly and my heart thumped faster and faster every second of this conversation. I felt like making a run for it, but that would be just great being hunted down by the police… Even in the future, where technology ruled, who knows what drastic things they could do just to track me down? Heaven knows what they would do once they caught me…

Ricky and Kenny both shared a laugh, a booming sound that would make even the fiercest lion crawl back into its cage, whimpering with fear and its tail between its legs.

"May I see it?" Ricky finally said after him and his partner's snickering died down.

Sweat dripped down my back and my pulse quicken some more. "See what?"

"Don't play stupid. Give me the damn shotgun." Ricky demanded, this time actually being serious. I could see the vein popping out of his neck, which meant he definitely wasn't playing.

I had no choice but to hand it over. I slowly lifted the strap off my back and shoulders, and allowed the gruff officer to forcefully take it out of my hands. He looked at it carefully, weighing it with his hands and letting Kenny observe it as well. When I saw Ricky put it into shooting position, hand on the pump and finger on the trigger, the color quickly fled from my face. I was a dead man.

My instincts, however, kicked in at the very moment. I lunged forward, grabbing the shotgun with both hands, and making Ricky pull the trigger. The blast of scattered bullets did not harm anyone, but the bang was so loud and sudden, everyone in the city could've heard it.

Ricky, stunned and frozen in fear, stood as still as a statue, his mouth gaping open and eyes widening at how the shotgun was very much real. This gave me the opportunity to quickly retrieve my shotgun. Using the blunt end of the gun, I slammed it against Ricky's temple.

He fell to the ground with a painful shriek, which was suddenly cut off as I stomped hard upon his head. As blood pooled around his head, Kenny stared down at his dead partner's bloody corpse in utter horror. His eyes shot upward to glare at me.

"You bastard… You'll pay for this!" He pulled out his pistol and began opening fire at me. I swiftly slid to the side and dodged the spray of lethal bullets. I turned around and bolted as fast as I could, grabbing Elizabeth's wrist as I sprinted past her.

She yelped in surprise. "Booker! What's going on-?"

"Not right now! We have to get the hell out of here!" We ran, hand-in-hand, away from the impending officer. Kenny seemed to have recovered from the frightening incident and how began to pursue us. I could hear the faint buzz of police sirens getting closer and closer.

"Oh fuck," I muttered as the sirens were nearly behind us and I could see flashing blue lights out of the corner of my eye. A crowd of people were walking our way and I burst through them like a wall of vines and underbrush in a jungle. They gasped and murmured insults and curses our way, but I was determined to never stop.

After continuous running through blocks of housing structures, skyscrapers, and many flocks of people, we came across a hidden alleyway.

"In here," I said.

"Booker, it doesn't look too safe…" Elizabeth's voice cracked in fear and anxiety. Her breathing came short and jagged from all of the running.

"Trust me; it's the only place we've got," I lead her into the alleyway. We immediately spotted a large trash container. Waste had already begun to spill over the top and the smell was horrendous. Despite that, we still trudged on in and hid behind it.

"I don't think-."

"Shh!" I placed a finger on her lips as more police sirens raced by. I could hear officers sprint by, shouting commands and other things to each other. The heavy clanking of their gear and the pounding of their footsteps echoed throughout the alleyway.

After a moment, the noise faded away and all was quiet.

"Are they gone?" Elizabeth whispered.

"I think so," I slowly lifted up from my crouch to check the outside. There were no more flashing police cars letting out wailing sirens or armed officers in sight. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I see you're now wanted." A sudden voice sounded behind us. I frantically whirled around, my gun aimed and ready to wreak havoc on whoever managed to lurk onto us.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold it right there. I won't hurt you." I could see an outline of a shadowed figure. The alleyway was too dark to actually see anything. The mysterious person stepped into the light and I was now able to see them clearly. He was a young man, perhaps around his early to mid-twenties. His glossy brown hair was swept to the side, with the tips slightly spiked up. His eyes were icy blue, very much similar to Elizabeth's, which was quite bizarre to me.

A sheer gray hoodie clung fittingly to his upper body and a pair of loose, olive-green cargo pants embraced his lower body. He wore dark combat boots that reached his calves. I noticed the small imprint of a symbol on the left-side of his hoodie; it looked like red star.

"Oh, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. I am Louis." Even though we were currently in New York City, Louis seemed to have a slight French accent.

"I'm-."

"Oh, I know who you are, sir," Louis cut me off just as I began speaking. "You are the notorious Booker DeWitt. And, of course, your partner-in-crime, the beautiful Elizabeth," Louis winked at her and she blushed, giggling into her hand.

I glared at him, my lips curling in disgust. "How do you know who we are?"

"I've been told to retrieve you. Come, we can discuss things further underground." He walked over to a blocked hole in the ground. Kicking the panel open, he began climbing down into it. "Well, are you coming or what?"

Elizabeth ran toward him, happily holding onto his hand as he helped her down. I stood there, dumb-stricken. I didn't know whether to trust this man or just blow his brains across the place. I decided to go with it. It was better than staying out here in the open, where our hunters were on the prowl.

Following after Elizabeth, I descended into the dark abyss of the pothole.


	3. Meeting the Family

"Welcome to the Healers headquarters!" Louis led me and Elizabeth into a spacious chamber full of people working busily and talking among themselves. All around me were bright colors and fancy decorations. It almost looked like I had just walked into a medieval palace owned by a very rich king.

"The Healers?" I gave Louis a puzzled look. He stopped and smacked himself in the forehead.

"Ah, of course! I forgot to tell you. The Healers are what we are," He swept his hand across the room where many groups of people labored away or perhaps sat and enjoyed a drink while talking to others. "And I'm the leader of this clan," Louis laid both hands on his chest in utter conceit.

"You are?" Elizabeth surprisingly asked.

"You don't look like much…" I muttered under my breath while looking towards the ground.

"Yes." Louis nodded and offered a smile. "Well, come on over here. I would like you to meet some people," With a wave of his hand, Elizabeth and I followed him through another door which led to a connecting room. Inside were tall, skyscraper-like bookcases full of various reading materials. It held everything from ordinary fictional novels to dictionaries so thick, they were the size of my entire hand. The room was also very elegant neatly organized.

As I stepped inside, my feet suddenly fell upon a soft, squishy surface. I looked down: an exquisite turquoise wool carpet with grey and black swirls covered the whole floor. I found it quite fascinating, and so did Elizabeth, as she observed it with complete intrigue.

I happened to look upward as well, catching sight of a gorgeous chandelier. It was unlike anything I have ever seen.

"Mr. DeWitt?" Louis's voice brought me back to reality.

"Yes?" I walked over to his side. "Sorry, I was just distracted by the room…"

Louis gave me a gleaming white smile. "It's perfectly fine. Now, I would like you to meet Marcel." I saw a man sitting at a desk, his hands entwined together atop it and a crooked grin set at his lips. He looked much older than Louis, possibly around his early forties. His dark brown hair, which began to show a bit of gray, was slicked back and glasses were placed upon his nose, revealing sparkling light brown eyes. He wore a white polo shirt and khaki pants. A red cross, the one very much seen in medical business, bore the left-side of his shirt.

I noticed a young woman standing next to him. My eyes seemed to lighten up at the sight of her. She had long, wavy black hair splayed all over her shoulders. Her hazel eyes glittered in the chandelier's light as she spotted me and Elizabeth. She wore a much similar outfit to Louis, Marcel, and all of the other members of "The Healers". She wore a white button-down shirt in which she rolled the sleeves up to her elbows. A tight pair of bright crimson pants covered her legs, showing off her wide hips and sculpted womanly figure.

The woman wore knee-high brown boots with red crosses painted on the tips. Just like her shoes, the red cross was imprinted on the left-side of her shirt.

"This is Marcel's assistant, Scarlett," Louis nodded to the beauty of a woman. Scarlett smiled at both me and Elizabeth, but her gaze seemed to linger on me the longest. Elizabeth excitedly ran over to Scarlett, relieved that she found another female to converse with, and began chatting up a storm with her.

"Why did you bring us here?" I asked Louis.

"Well, Booker, sit on down here." He pulled out a mahogany chair engulfed in a soft, burgundy fabricate and encrusted with copper beads. I sat down, a sigh slipping out of my mouth as all of my exhaustion suddenly crept out of me.

"Okay. I know your situation," Louis began. "You and Elizabeth were back in the year, 1913. Due to Woodrow Wilson's psychotic wish to capture Elizabeth and use her powers to fulfill his own evil deeds, she created a tear to this year, 2013, am I right?"

I nodded slowly in disbelief, shocked at how much he knows.

"Okay, well, Wilson was in a state of bewilderment due to you and Elizabeth's uncanny disappearance. His only option was to establish a group, known as "The Keepers", to keep an eye out for you guys as generations rolled on by."

"Wait, "The Keepers"?" I asked, confusion beginning to overwhelm me.

"Yes, they're the opposing group to us. Our enemy." Louis had a stern look on his face.

"Okay…" I said slowly. "But Wilson is dead now, right?"

"Oh yes, he's been dead for over 80 years now." Louis stated. "But he wanted his association to carry on his 'legend'."

"Legend?" I snorted. "That man was worth no more than a pile of shit."

"Well, his 'legend' per se, or perhaps what he ordered the members of the Keepers, was to capture Elizabeth, drain her of her powers, and once she was all empty and potentially vulnerable, to then kill her. They plan to kill you as well, knowing you would get between them and her."

I was silent for the time being, my mind buzzing with many questions. As well as my curiosity, rage swelled up inside me. Instead of throwing insults and shouts full of spite at everyone in this room, as well as causing one hell of a chaotic mess to this luscious library, I remained seated. My fingernails began to dig into the arms of the expensive-looking chair and my teeth grinded together.

"So…" I started off, calming myself from the intense moment of anger. "What do we do?"

Louis grinned. "Simple. You and Elizabeth stay here for your own safety; we will provide you food, warm beds, and perhaps some new attire."

"New attire?" I arched an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"You can't go strutting around in that," he pointed to my black pinstripe pants, vest, and dangling red tie. "Sure, it was popular in the early 1900's. But you're now in the 21st century; we dress way differently than that."

"Okay. What do you suppose I wear?" I asked.

"One of my assistants will get you and Elizabeth associated with new clothing soon. Well," Louis stood up slowly, brushing off his cargo pants. "I will be going now. I have to attend to other important duties."

"Wait!" I reached a hand to him before he turned away. "Why exactly did you bring us here?"

"Oh. Since you missed an entire century in that massive leap to this year, Marcel happily agreed to teach you all of the historical events that have happened in the past. Kind of like a catch up thing." Louis informed.

"Teach us? This ain't school…" I muttered, folding my arms across my chest.

"You're right, it's not. But who knows when Elizabeth will be able to regain enough power to open another tear? Could be a month, a year, or even a whole generation from now! Only time will tell." Louis said, walking over to Marcel's desk to toy around with a strange figurine with a bobbing head.

_Only time will tell, _I thought._ Perhaps…_

"So you need to be informed of all of the past important historical events that reshaped America." Louis explained.

"Like what?" I asked.

Louis shrugged, walking around to stand next to me. "Well, there's World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, Apollo 11… You keeping up?"

I blinked at him in utter confusion. I could only choke out a, "Huh?"

He chuckled. "Exactly. Marcel, and his beautiful assistant," Louis winked at Scarlett who rolled her eyes and continued talking and giggling with Elizabeth. "They will teach you all of those important historical dates. Yes, it will kind of be like school, but it's for your own good."

I sighed and passed a hand over my weary face. "Alright. We'll do it."

Louis frowned slightly. "Don't you want to talk about it with Elizabeth?"

"She won't mind. Hell, that girl's practically a walking ball of sunshine ready to shit rainbows any second now. Looks like she's making friends already."

Louis slapped his knee in humor. "Oh God, dude, that was pretty funny. Anyways, it's getting late," he looked at a mechanical device on his wrist which assumingly had a miniature clock in it. "I think we shall start the teachings tomorrow instead. Well, I gotta bolt. Scarlett here will show you to your rooms and give you new outfits to wear." He gave us a small nod and waved goodbye before stepping out of the room.

Scarlett and Elizabeth both walked over to me. Scarlett's eyes burned into mine like a thousand suns. She smiled and walked past me so close that I could actual smell the sweet honey-blossom perfume that wafted off of her.

"Follow me." She said in a melodic yet smoky voice that hinted a bit of seductiveness to it; which was probably aimed at me.

Elizabeth and I followed her back out into the large chamber where people began to retire to their rooms. She led us to a door to the left of the library, which had the sign "_Men"_ on the front. I could hear throaty laughing and shouts of delight coming from inside.

"This is where you'll be staying, Booker." Scarlett said, her hazel eyes sparkling in the dimming lights. "This room's for men only."

"Oh, okay." I said, suddenly feeling embarrassed that I thought men and women slept together, well, not _together_ but in the same room.

"Oh! I forgot one thing," Scarlett walked over to a door next to the men's room. I suspected it to be a utility closet, but it was just a closet full of clothing. She rummaged through the clothes, tossing around clothes and pants until she found what she looking for.

"Ah, found it," she murmured. She came up to me, holding a full outfit which was neatly folded. It was a white hood-less jacket with a stiff collar, a plain dark charcoal gray t-shirt, a pair of black pants made out of a rough material, a black leather belt along with a silver buckle, and dark brown leather boots that reached my ankles.

She placed the outfit in my arms and I touched them, surprised at how soft and comfy they felt. I unfolded the white jacket; it revealed a small red cross patch stitched to the left-side of the chest.

"Looks great," I commented.

Scarlett gave me a small smile. "I'm glad you like it. Hopefully it fits you well. You'll be wearing it for now on."

"Really? Again, what's so bad about what I'm wearing right now?"

"Eh, it's too mainstream. Well, back in the 1900's. You look more normal wearing that. And besides, you'll look like one of us." Scarlett said.

"Oh, alright." I tucked the outfit into my arms tightly.

"Glad to hear," she grinned. "Well, best be getting to bed. Just find whatever bunk is available. Oh, and don't mind the other guys. It'll take them some time to get use to a newcomer like you." With that, she turned around and motioned for Elizabeth to follow her.

"Good night, Booker!" Elizabeth called to me before following Scarlett to the Women's room.

"G'night!" I called back. I stared back at the two women walk across the chamber and into another room. I turned around and placed a hand on the door. Before opening it, I sighed and closed my eyes. I entered the room, squinting at the sudden bright lights.

It was quite a spacey room with bunk beds set wide from each other. The beds looked nice and comfortable, unlike anything I slept in while in the military or Pinkertons. Each blanket on the bed was red with a large white cross in the center. Looked almost like the flag of Switzerland.

I spotted a dozen or so men inside there. Some were already asleep, snoring loudly, and others were sitting on their beds, talking to each other. The ones still awake immediately stared at me as I came into the room. They had stern faces on, but their expressions turned jubilant and bubbly as they recognized me.

"Well, I'll be…" A tall, broad-shouldered man with dirty blonde hair cut short stood up from his bed. He was shirtless, showing off rippling muscles, and wore nothing else but dark shorts. "If it ain't Booker!" He had a thick Southern accent, finding it a bit hard to understand.

"Yeah, it's me. Hello." I said, shyly.

"We've heard so much about you. Tell me, what's it like in 1912?" A second man, one with short black hair and stunning gray eyes, asked me.

"Uh, yeah, listen: it's been a long say. Do you mind if I get to bed?"

"Oh, of course!" The blonde one bellowed. "By the way, my name's Nolan and this is James," he pointed to the dark-haired man.

"You two brothers?" I asked.

"No, no, we're just really good buddies. Isn't that right, bro?" Nolan asked James.

"Yep!" James smiled and gave me a thumbs-up.

"Ah, cool. Well, I'll be heading to bed now." I said, turning around to find an available bed.

"Alrighty! Good night!" Nolan said to me.

"Yeah, night." I waved back to him. I was able to find an empty bunk bed by itself, with no bed overtop of it, away from the two chatty and rambunctious men. They were both incredibly friendly and I'm sure we'll become great friends, but when it comes to my sleep, I need it to be silent.

I dropped the clothing onto the bed and plopped myself down. One by one, I stripped my vest and button-down shirt off. Once all my top clothing was off, I kicked off my shoes. I kept my pants on, feeling uncomfortable about sleeping in my undershorts with other men around.

"Whoa!" Even from halfway across the room, Nolan could still see me clearly. He walked on over to me, his mouth nearly gaping open. "Awesome scars, dude!"

"Scars?" I looked down and spotted the pale, long gashes and bullet scars. _Oh yeah, forgot about them._ The pale streaks covered most of my abdomen and chest, mostly from an unexpected knife swipe due to either a Columbian officer or Vox Populi soldier. Bullet holes, some healed and pale and a few still bloody, covered most of my torso as well.

"How'd you get those?" Nolan asked, wide-eyed over the masterpiece of marks on me.

"You wouldn't believe the hell I went through in my past," I said. "Most of these were from previous fights."

"Oh my God, that's amazing. Hey, that looks nasty," he pointed to two fresh bullet holes glistening with blood on my abdominal area.

"Oh yeah…" I dug my fingers into the wounds, gritting my teeth in pain, and pulled out the two silver bullets.

Nolan grimaced at the sight and had a disgusted look on his face. "You know we have doctors here, right?"

"Yeah, come on, you guys are literally called "The Healers". I know that." I sarcastically said. "I just like to do things on my own."

"Well, at least disinfect it," he ran back to his bunk bed, opening and digging through his side table, and came back holding a cloth soaked in rubbing alcohol and a roll of sterile bandages. He handed me both items.

I was reluctant at first, but pressed the alcohol soaked rag to my abdomen. I hissed in pain at the excruciation it brought. As I wiped away the blood, I handed it back to Nolan. Grabbing the bandages, I then proceeded to wrap it around my side.

"You better?" Nolan asked.

"Yeah, better than ever. Thanks, kid."

He smiled widely.

"Now… Leave me be. Gotta get some shut-eye." I carefully laid down on the bed, sighing as my aching body was finally relieved by a fluffy, soft heaven.

"Oh. Yes, sir!" He turned around and went back over to his bunk, going back to talking with James.

At that very moment, I was able to close my eyes and fall into a luxurious, deep sleep.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it. Please do favorite, follow, or drop a review! :)**


	4. Je t'aime

The next morning, I was awoken by an obnoxious voice calling for me. My eyes opened to bright sunlight, and as they adjusted, I saw Nolan leaning over me. He was dressed in an outfit similar to what Scarlett gave me last night. Instead, his jacket was heather gray and the t-shirt he was wearing beneath was red and had a silver logo of an "A" or what it looked like to be.

"Booker? Booker, wake up." He slightly shook me and I swatted his hand away as if it was a pesky mosquito.

"What?" I grumbled, burying the heels of my hands into my eye sockets. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and swung my legs over the bed. The bandage on my side was still wrapped around me like a coiled snake and throbbed in soreness as I moved around. I looked on the side table next to me which had an alarm clock sitting upon it. It read exactly 8:00 AM. I groaned and ran a hand through my hair.

"I was told to wake you. Breakfast ends in an hour." Nolan said.

"Only an hour more? Shit, it's like a damn hotel…" I muttered while standing up and stretching my arms.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. But hey, the food is _amazing._" Nolan turned around to exit the room and I was left alone. With the exception of me, everyone else was gone. Bunk beds were neatly made up and the room looked perfectly tidy, with not a single abandon piece of clothing or atrocious stink lingering around. It was highly unlikely for the Men's room.

I thought nothing about and collected my pile of assorted clothing. It took some searching, but I finally found the bathroom which was just next to the Men's dormitory. As I walked into the bathroom, I didn't come in contact with filthy floorboards and rotting, moldy walls along with the smell of shit drifting around.

Instead, I was gazing upon sparkling white tiles lining the floor like books neatly organized together on a shelf. Straight ahead, on the right, were about ten stalls holding porcelain toilets with the sweet smell of lavender coming out in steady waves. On the left, were five larger stalls holding a square, white tiled shower. In each shower, in a small box, held various bottles of shampoos, body washes, and one bar of soap. As I looked to my right, before the toilet stalls, I saw five glimmering sinks made out of shiny porcelain, as well as the toilets.

"Holy shit…" I cursed in amazement at the utopia of a bathroom. No one was currently in any of the stalls, so I had the entire bathroom to myself. I set my outfit on the space next to one of the sinks and picked the nearest shower stall to me. I stripped off the rest of the clothing I had on, which were my pinstripe black pants and undershorts. I threw them in a pile outside of the stall.

Stepping inside the shower stall, my feet suddenly met rough tile. They were there to keep me from slipping and seemed to be made out of cobblestone, but were smoothed down to not cause abrasion. A simple metal gear was placed in front of me and I twisted it. Water shot out from the above hose in thin streams. I yelped in surprised as the water was ice cold.

Shivering and jumping from foot to foot like a mad man, I managed to twist the gear until it was between the "H" and "C". The water turned luke warm and felt relaxing after the shocking icy water. I picked up the small crate which held the shampoos and soaps and looked through it.

I found a black bottle with blue highlights. On the front, the word "**AXE**" showed in big, bold letters. On the bottom, it said, "**JUST CLEAN**". I read on this side that it is specifically designed for men only. I decided try it out. I poured some into the palm of my hand, a sudden, strong yet nice smell coming from it, and lathered it into my hair. After rinsing, I found more "AXE" products but this time in a shower gel. I decided to use the other black and blue body wash bottle as it matched the shampoo one I used. This time, it read "**PURIFYING" **at the bottom.

There was a yellow sponge hanging on a hook and I grabbed it, disposing the once-again strong but sweet smelling gel into it. As I washed the left-over sweat, grime, and blood off my body, I was careful to go around my bandaged area.

Once I was absolutely sparkling clean (literally), I saw a couple towels hanging from above and snatched them. I draped one over my waist and used the other to dry my hair. After completely drying myself off, I finally tried on the outfit that Scarlett recommended me to wear.

The black pants were a perfect fit, not too tight and not too baggy, but also giving me some looseness to move around in. I slung the belt around my waist, admiring over the shine of the silver, square buckle. The dark gray shirt fitted too, yet was a bit tight, but it was still comfortable. The boots felt just like my old ones, only these were dark brown and made out of real leather. The white jacket was the last thing to put on and I fittingly snuggled up into it. I decided to not zip it up and rolled the sleeves up to my elbows for a causal look.

I brushed out my still-damp hair with a clean and unused brush conveniently stowed in the upper cabinets. I made my way out of the bathroom and walked through the large chamber toward where most of the noise was coming from. Some people were already finished with breakfast and getting on with their day, gazing over strategic maps or constructing whole new structures.

I strutted over into wide-open double doors which lead me into what seemed to be a cafeteria. It wasn't that crowded, as most people were finishing up and leaving. I spotted Elizabeth sitting at a rectangular table along with Scarlett. Both of them were chatting and giggling while also eating from a tray of delicious-looking foods.

I walked on over to their table and they seemed to both look up at me at the same exact time. Elizabeth's eyes widened but she soon shot me a huge smile.

"Booker!" she leapt up and raced over to me, giving me a big hug.

"Morning, sweetheart," I whispered to her while returning her hug.

"Oh my God, you look stunning." She commented on my completely new and different attire.

"I could say the same for you," It was true. Her blue and white dress was now gone and replaced with a new outfit. Honestly, I liked this one a bit better. Her outfit was similar to what Scarlett wears, but slightly different. She wore a white button-up blouse with the top couple buttons loose, showing a fair amount of cleavage. A brown leather belt settled loosely at her hips, with most of the blouse still tucking out. The buckle on her belt had the red cross symbol on it. She wore a pair of skin-tight black pants, which almost looked like leggings. She marvelously wore high-heeled dark brown leather boots that reached her knees.

I admit, she looked sexy. Definitely better than her last outfit. The only thing I noticed; however, was that the choker around her neck with the bird pendant on it was gone.

"You hungry?" she asked, going back around the table to sit next to Scarlett.

"Starving. Where do I get the food?" I asked.

"See the line?" I cranked my neck to see a small line to the side. "That's where the food is being served. Better hurry though; they stop serving in half an hour."

"Good to know. Thanks." I smiled at her and made my way for the line.

I got a tray and stashed loads of food on there. It included a steaming plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, two biscuits with strawberry jam, a bowl of fruit salad, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of black coffee. As I came up to an obese woman wearing an apron and hair net, I fumbled for the wallet in my pocket.

"Don't bother," she said in a voice that sounded like she'd probably been smoking for many years.

"'Excuse me?" I asked.

"You don't need to pay. Everything's free. You _are_ part of this group, right?"

"Yeah, of course." I blushed as I told her the lie. Well, technically it was lie.

"Alright then. Carry on."

I took up my tray, trying to balance everything on it without it all tumbling off in an avalanche of food and drink. I approached Elizabeth and Scarlett's table from behind, with their backs to me. As I got closer, I could actually hear their conversation. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was curious. I took a seat at an empty table behind them and began eating while also listening to what they were saying.

"Isn't he cute?" Scarlett said.

"Who?" Elizabeth said in a nervous voice.

"Oh, you know! Booker..." Scarlett seemed to whisper my name, barely audible for me to hear.

"Yeah, he's a handsome man…" Elizabeth still sounded nervous, as if Scarlett was prying into her personal life.

"Oh, come on. I know you like him." Scarlett nearly purred.

"Well yeah, as a good friend." Elizabeth said.

"No, no. You _love _him." Scarlett leaned in closer to her, the words tumbling right off of her lips.

Elizabeth was quiet for a moment, and then she responded with a muttering, "Shut up…"

Scarlett softly chuckled. "Ha, I knew it. But you better hurry up and do something about it, honey. Or else I'm going to swipe him right out your clutches and you'll never have him." With that, Scarlett stood up from her seat. I shielded my face with hand, afraid that she would spot me. Instead, she never turned around and saw me. She walked right out of the cafeteria without saying anything else Elizabeth.

I knew the coast was clear and stood up. Taking a deep breath, I walked around the table and greeted Elizabeth with a cheerful, "Hey!"

Elizabeth didn't respond. Instead, her head was bowed; face looking down into her breakfast. I tried my best to look surprised, that I never eavesdropped on her and Scarlett's conversation; and how Scarlett completely backstabbed her.

"Elizabeth? What's wrong?"

She bolted upward and I could clearly see the fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. Her gaze was locked onto me for a second, and then she cupped a hand over her mouth and ran away.

"Elizabeth!" I called after her, but she was already out of the double-doors.

I sank back into my chair, a heavy sigh escaping my mouth. I desperately wanted to chase after her, comfort her, give her the love she deserves… I decided she just needed some time to cool off.

I ended up eating my breakfast alone and in silence.

* * *

After finishing up all the food on my tray, I assumed Elizabeth was given enough time to cool down. I walked out of the cafeteria just in time before they closed and locked the doors, saying breakfast was now over and they will reopen for lunch in a couple hours.

I walked around the chamber and saw a group of men, donning bright lime-green vests and orange hard-hats, constructing another new connecting room.

"Hey, 'scuse me?" I politely called for one of the nearest men to me. He was sitting down on a bench, smoking a cigarette.

"Can I help you?" he asked, blowing smoke my way.

"Yeah, have you seen a young lady run by? Perhaps crying and very upset?" I asked.

"A young lady…" The man took the cigarette out of his mouth and pondered for a moment. "Yeah, I think I saw a girl run by. She was in a fit of tears."

"Okay, good. Which way did she go?"

"That way," he pointed to a hall across the chamber. "Must've run into the utility closet. Don't know what her problem was."

"Alright. Thanks." I started making my way toward the hallway. It was dark, except for a single light coming from a lantern. The only door in the hall had the sign, "_Utility"_ on it which I suspected where Elizabeth was hiding out.

I knocked gently on it. "Elizabeth?" I called to her in a soft, comforting voice.

She didn't answer; instead I heard the sobs and sniffs coming from within.

I knocked again, this time a bit harder. "Elizabeth, please. Can you tell me what's wrong?"

She sniffed again. "Go away…" I sighed and reached down for the doorknob. I twisted it and it stubbornly did not allow me to open it. _Locked…_

"Please… Can you let me in? I just want to talk with you," As seconds of silence ticked by, I heard the _click_ of the lock being unlatched. I opened the door and saw Elizabeth slouched in the corner, her back toward me. I stepped in and closed the door behind me. The utility room was quite small, only big enough for at least two people. Cardboard boxes of cleaning bottles and stained rags sat all around the floor. Mops and brooms were stacked in corners, looking like towering stocks of sugar cane grouped tightly together.

"Why did you come?" she croaked, her voice dripping with melancholy and fresh tears.

"I was concerned." I said. "Elizabeth, please, can you tell me what's wrong?" Even though I knew what she was upset about, due to me curiously eavesdropping on her and Scarlett's conversation, I wanted her to think that I didn't know what was going on.

Elizabeth wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. "When Scarlett and I were talking, while you were up getting food, she told me something very upsetting…"

"What is it?" I asked, a bit too demanding.

"She pried the truth out of me… That I… Booker," she took a deep breath. "I love you…"

I was silent for a moment, trying to let everything sink in. "You do?"

"Yes, very much. Do you…love me back?"

I lunged forward to her and suddenly caught her lips in a kiss. It was quite a surprising move; not even I thought about doing this. But I don't regret it. I wrapped my arms around her slender torso and leaned my head forward, making the kiss more passionate and intense. Elizabeth snaked her arms around my neck, clutching onto me very tightly.

She backed up, bringing me along with her, and I ended up pinning her to the wall. I ravaged her mouth and kissed down her neck, causing her to moan softly. I didn't realize that my hand was slithering up her blouse, stroking the smooth skin underneath. Her legs came up, straddling my waist, and I hooked my hands under her thighs and supported her as I lifted her up.

Just as were going to be a bit more intimate, a sudden knock pounded against the door. We immediately stopped what we were doing, including breaking our kiss. We quickly smoothed down our ruffled clothes and Elizabeth patted down her hair.

"Booker? Elizabeth?" I recognized Louis' French accent.

"Uh, yeah, we're here. Just give us a moment." I walked over to the door and opened it. Louis stood there, arms crossed and a serious look on his face.

"What have you two been doing?" he asked, his blue eyes twinkling with slight anger.

"Umm, nothing… Just talking." I awkwardly said, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

"Well, you were supposed to be in the library for your teachings an hour ago!" Louis nearly screamed, but calmed himself down. He turned his back slightly to us and started speaking what sounded like French. "Je n'arrive pas à croire que ces deux ..."

"What was that?" I asked, not understand a single word of French he just muttered.

"Nothing… Just come to the library immediately." He stormed off, muttering more obscene French under his breath.

"This is why you should've taken me to Paris," Elizabeth stated, her hands on her hips. "I would've learned more French until I was fluent. Then I could have been able to understand what Louis was saying."

"Yeah, yeah. I promise; I'll take you there soon." I smiled at her.

Elizabeth shook her head but I could still see the grin settling at her lips. "Yeah right." Then she stood on her tip-toes to give me a quick kiss.

"Come on. Let's get to the library before Louis gets even more pissed off," I said, before taking her hand and we walked, hand-in-hand, to our next destination.

* * *

**In case some of you don't know what "Je t'aime" means (the name of this chapter) it's French for "I love you". You see what I did there? I know you do. **


	5. First Day of Class

**The lyrics below basically describe how Elizabeth feels about Booker now. I might put lyrics from a song in a chapter once in a while from now on. And don't judge me on what singers/bands I pick. You just try to fucking stop me. *Cues picture of little girl in pink beetle cartoon thing costume***

**Constantly, boy you play through my mind like a symphony**  
**There's no way to describe what you do to me**  
**You just do to me, what you do**  
**And it feels like I've been rescued**  
**I've been set free**

"**Love You Like A Long Song" by Selena Gomez**

* * *

Elizabeth and I entered the library to see just Marcel, his back turned toward us, looking through a lower shelf of books. His fingers delicately ran over the spines of the books as if they were pondering on which one to pick up. I noticed Scarlett wasn't here; that's good. I'm sick of that bitch anyways.

"Ah, you're finally here," Marcel said, not turning around to look at us. He walked over to his desk where two school desks were sitting in front of it. "Come, sit." He motioned to the two desks. Elizabeth went on ahead, turning her head to give me a wink. I smiled and followed after her. The school desk seemed to fit Elizabeth perfectly, as it was suited for people like her. For me, on the other hand, it felt like I was stuffing myself into a small cardboard box.

The desk groaned in agony as I sat down into it. My abdomen pushed into the actual desktop, making it hard to move or breathe. I growled in frustration as I struggled to fixate myself and get into a comfortable position. I finally found a good position and squeezed my arms through the side to lay them on top of the desktop.

During my moment of squirming and huffing out noises of annoyance, Elizabeth arched an eyebrow and Marcel, hands entwined together on his desk, stared at me with a blank expression.

I chuckled softly. "Sorry 'bout that."

"It's perfectly fine." Marcel said, but he seemed to sigh in relief afterwards. "Okay, so try and think back to 1913. What was the most recent historic event that had happen?" he asked, pulling out a book from inside his desk and flipping the pages over.

"The appointing of Woodrow Wilson as president," Elizabeth pointed out before I did. I think I will just let her do all of the talking since I wasn't really familiar in the arts of learning.

"Okay, good. Is that all you know?" Marcel asked, pushing his glasses back up to his eyes.

"Pretty much," Elizabeth said.

"Well, before we go on to the wars and other events, I'm going to point out that the president after Wilson, Warren G. Hardy, was the founder of the Healers."

"Really?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes widening in awe.

Marcel nodded. "Yes, he saw how Wilson acted like a power-crazed tyrant. For some factual idea, Warren knew about you, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth looked surprised. "Me? But…how?"

Marcel shrugged. "Honestly, I do not know. It's extraordinary how he knows you. Anyways, he created our group to and for generations, we've been looking for you. Our goal was to scout out for you."

I happened to pipe in at this moment. "So… if we happened to land in the year, let's say, 2165? Would you guys be there too?

"Why yes," Marcel said. "We would be in any year, as a matter of fact."

"You guys time travel?" I asked.

"Not precisely. We happen to be established in each main generation. If you two were to go to the 1960s, we would be there too."

"What about the Civil War era? Or perhaps during the Revolutionary War times?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

Marcel shook his head. "No, no, President Hardy wasn't even alive back then. We were nonexistent back in those times. So if dear Elizabeth happened to open a tear to those days, I'd say you two would be safe. Well, except with the wars and rebellions going on."

It started to all make sense to me. How the Healers found out where we were, how they knew so much about us, and who the Keepers were and why they were after us. The confusion that racked my brain that seemed to subside. Even all of this time travel talk started to make a lick of sense to me.

"Okay, now that that's done with, let's move on to World War I, one of the biggest wars to ever engulf the entire world in violence and cataclysm." Marcel began lecturing us about "World War I", a huge war consisting of basically all of the countries, allies against enemies, battling it out. The main reason the war erupted was due to the assassination of the Archduke of Austria Hungary, Franz Ferdinand.

"Who assassinated him?" Elizabeth asked.

"A secret Serbian terrorist society called the Black Hand." Marcel answered. "The decision to kill the Archduke was apparently initiated by Apis, and not sanctioned by the full Executive Committee. Those involved probably realized that their plot would invite war between Austria and Serbia. They had every reason to expect that Russia would side with Serbia. In all likelihood, they did not anticipate that their little war would mushroom into world war."

"Interesting," Elizabeth murmured. "Who was involved in the huge war?"

"It was basically all of the countries of the world. At first, it consisted of the original alliance against the Central Powers. The Central Powers were the German-Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria. The Allies were mainly made up of the French Republic, the British Empire, and Russia. Soon, the US and other European began joining the Allies to help fight."

"Wow… Incredible," Elizabeth now had a small journal on her desk and was scribbling down notes.

"Where'd you get a notebook from?" I asked her.

"I always carry a small notebook everywhere I go. You know, just in case I need to write down some important information." She smirked at me, her blue eyes sparkling in amusement.

"That's very smart of you, Elizabeth," Marcel commented. "Hey Booker, you should do something like that." He insisted.

"I thought this wasn't supposed to be school…" I slouched and managed to fold my arms, slightly pouting.

"Well, I guess it is. Sorry," Marcel shrugged while ever-so-slightly grinning. He happened to glance at a clock on the wall to his right. "Oh, looks like today's lesson it over. I'll see you guys tomorrow." He stood up and went back to browsing the bookshelves.

"Wow, that was short," I said, struggling to get myself out of the deathtrap of a desk.

"I agree. But we have tomorrow and so on to look forward to!" Elizabeth exclaimed. She came up to me and took ahold of my arm, clutching onto me as we exited the library. As we stepped out of the room, she gave me a kiss on my cheek and snuggled up comfortably to me as we walked. I loved that our relationship blossomed into this; I'm looking forward to spending every moment with this beautiful woman.

As we walked, I spotted Scarlett standing quite a distance away. She was smoking a cigarette and watching us from the shadows. All I see was half of her body, plus the light of her burning cigarette. I glared her way and pulled Elizabeth a bit closer to me.

"Where to now?" Elizabeth purred, resting her head on my shoulder.

"I dunno. Wherever, I guess." That's when I saw a door with a glowing side on it. It clearly read, "**Entertainment Room"**.

"How about we go in there?" Elizabeth pointed the "Entertainment Room".

I chuckled. "You just read my mind,"

"Come on, then!" she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. The room was surprisingly very large and spacious. On one side, two young men held devices and stared intensely at a wide-screened mechanism with moving, colorful images. The other side had a small group of women chatting while listening to what sounded like music. There was a large, flat green table where three men pushed colored balls into holes with a long, slender wooden stick.

"Booker, my man!" I realized the two young men sitting on a couch, while playing on the screened mechanism, were Nolan and James. "Come sit here!" Nolan gestured to a spot next to him.

I was reluctant, but went on over and sat next to him. Elizabeth walked over and stood next to James while watching what was going on the screened device.

"Ooh, who's your lady friend?" Nolan whispered to me, his eyebrows lifting upward.

"That's Elizabeth," I said.

Nolan made a cat-like purring sound. "Damn, I would totally bang her,"

"Bang? What the hell does that mean?" I asked him.

"It means he wants to have sex with her," James said, his eyes never leaving the moving-images on the mechanism.

"What?!" I stood up, glaring down at Nolan.

"Whoa, take it easy, man," he placed his hands in a defensive position. I felt like strangling him right here and now, not giving shit that there were other people in the room.

Instead, I grabbed a handful of his shirt and dragged him over to the corner of the room. "Hey, hey, easy on the shirt!" he brushed off the wrinkled clothing after I let go of him. "This is my limited edition Skyrim shirt that I got from GameStop!"

"I don't fucking care," I growled. "Listen, pretty boy, Elizabeth is my girl,_ mine_, do you hear me?"

"Yes, sir, I do. I-I didn't k-know that you t-two were together," Nolan stuttered in fear.

"This is your warning. If I ever see you with her or even near her, I will kill you. That's not a joke." I stared intensely into his eyes until he closed his and shook his head in defeat.

"Okay, okay! I promise I won't go near her."

"Good." I left him to cry in the corner and walked over to Elizabeth.

"Booker, what happened?" she asked.

"Nothing," I muttered as I brushed passed her. "I'm leaving." Without waiting for a response from her, I went on ahead and breezed out of the door. I started making my way towards the Men's dormitory, thinking a nap would rest my overwhelmed mind.

"Booker! Wait!" I recognized Elizabeth's voice and stopped in my tracks, waiting for her to catch up with me. "Where are you going?"

"Going to take a nap," I mumbled as I kept on walking, not making eye contact with her.

"Will you stop for a minute!" she demanded and I stopped, sighing as I did. She grabbed my arm and pulled me to the wall, her hands placed on her hips and a scowl disturbing her complexion. "Now, tell me, what is going on with you?" she asked.

I closed my eyes and sighed again. As I reopened them, I stared down into her eyes, mentally laughing on how tall I was compared to her short, smaller self.

"Nolan, the man you saw me angrily scolding…" I took a deep breath and rubbed the back of my neck. "He… let's just say that he was attracted to you, and he wanted to do specific things to you. Things that I would never allow him do to you as long as you and I are together,"

Elizabeth was silent for a moment, staring into my eyes. Her gaze dropped to the ground. "Let me guess… sex?"

"Yeah…" I said slowly. She suddenly sprang forward and placed a big, lip-stick covered kiss on my lips. She stayed like that for a few seconds and broke apart, leaving what felt like a red smear on my mouth. She then embraced me, arms wrapped tightly around my mid-section and her cheek resting on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, Mr. DeWitt," she said. "You have me and I have you."

* * *

**Okay, this is my second re-post of this chapter. Apparently I had my history wrong (sorry about that. I'm not a genius when it comes to history).**


	6. Moments

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait. School started a few weeks ago for me and I'm still adjusting to it, plus I have a lot of homework and other crap to do. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

After a quick cat nap in my bed back in the Men's dormitory, I woke up feeling refreshed and much better. The dormitory was once again still empty, with the exception of two men, whom I didn't recognize, playing a game of cards atop a wooden crate. As I stirred and arose from my bed, they paid no heed to me and kept their eyes focused on the game.

I glanced at the clock next to my bed and it read exactly 5:00 pm. I decided to go out and do whatever to pass time while waiting for dinner to be served, which doesn't happen for a few more hours. I stepped out and headed for the Entertainment room. I knew that was the last place I stopped by and guessed Elizabeth was lingering around there.

I stepped into the room and saw that there were less people than last time. Nolan and James were gone. I saw the flat-screened device, in which they were playing on, now sat unused and dark. The group of girls were still there, but were now reduced to down to four girls. The fifth girl there seemed to not fit in and I smiled in relief as I recognized her.

"Elizabeth?" I called to her. She raced to me and lunged forward to hug me as I approached her.

"Hi!" she cheerfully greeted me, while planting a quick peck on my lips. "Had a nice sleep?"

"Absolutely," I said with a grin. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm having so much fun! Booker, I'd like to introduce you to Chloe," she pointed to a short brunette who waved shyly. "Cat," an energetic young woman with crazy brown and turquoise colored hair. "Taylor," the tallest girl in the group with dirty blonde hair and a pretty face. "And last but certainly not least, Angel," a petite and plump girl with dark brown hair.

"Girls, this is my boyfriend, Booker," I smiled and gave a quick wave to them. All of them seemed to stare at me as if I was a majestic unicorn that suddenly galloped right in front of them.

"Good job, Liz," Cat leaned over to Elizabeth and whispered into her ear. "He's surely a cutie,"

I managed to hear Cat's compliment and blushed, looking straight toward the ground. I heard music once again blasting from a mysterious source, this time sounding different than last time. It was more catchy, fun, and upbeat.

"Hey, what are you guys listening to?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh! He's a singer… I believe his name is Justin Timberlake, am I right?" Elizabeth looked at Cat.

Cat nodded in return while refocusing her attention back on a small, pocket-sized device in her hand.

"Okay, sounds cool." I replied.

"Yeah, it definitely is. Would you like to listen to one of his songs?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Okay! Here put these on," She handed me a strange item with two circles being connected by a curved segment. It was a bright, shiny red color with a white lower-case "b" on both circular sides.

"What's this?" I looked confusingly at the device in my hand. It was surprisingly light and had a smooth surface with the circular sides having a soft, squishy material inside.

"Headphones. Just put them on your head, over your ears." I did as she said and I watched her grab the long string connected to the headphones. She walked over to the source of where the music was coming from: a black rectangular box with many buttons and gears in the center of it.

Elizabeth connected the headphones into the music-box and suddenly a stream of music sounded inside of my head. I was shocked at first, but softened as I realized it was quite soothing…and catchy. The music was a series of beats and musical sounds that were pleasing to my ears.

A male voice began to sing and I could understand everything he was saying:

_Don't know why, but girl, I'm feeling close to you  
Maybe it's this ocean view, I'm so emotional  
And all these thoughts been dancing on my head  
For too long, too long, too long!  
I wrote a song for you, I wanna sing to you  
But every time I'm close to you  
The words wanna come out, but I forget  
It's so strong, it's so strong, it's so strong!_

When the song ended after another series of verses and a repetition of the chorus, I took the headphones off and stared at them in my hands, speechless. The lyrics of the song described exactly how I felt about Elizabeth. It was incredibly odd… But anyways, the song was phenomenal.

"What did you think?" Elizabeth asked.

I sighed, yet smiled at the same time. "That was awesome."

Elizabeth giggled. "I'm glad you liked it,"

"Yeah… Hey, you hungry?" I asked.

"Oh, I was so wrapped up on music that I completely forgot about my own hunger!" Elizabeth laughed and lightly slapped herself on the forehead. "Why yes, I'm starving."

I chuckled. "Alrighty then. C'mon, let's go to the cafeteria for dinner."

"Okay!" She grabbed ahold of my arm and I led her toward the exit. Just as we were about to leave, she stopped and cranked her neck back to the group of girls. "Hey guys! You wanna come along with us?"

Cat, as usual, was the one that responded. "We'll be there in a bit!"

Elizabeth gave her a thumbs-up and we continued out of the room. We headed into the cafeteria, which didn't take too long to walk to. The place was crowded; almost no tables were available, except for one in the far right corner. Elizabeth jogged over to it while I followed after her. She took a seat, spreading her arms over the tabletop as to ward off others and mentally tell them, _"This table is taken!" _ She looked like a fierce and serious lioness protecting her territory, while still being a bit goofy at the same.

"You stay here," I said, knowing that she will probably remain. "I'll go get us some chow," Being the rare gentleman that I was, I went on over to the serving line and got both myself and Elizabeth some dinner. I knew she was quite the picky eater, so I got her whatever I could fine that she would enjoy. That included pork chops, rice with gravy, corn on the cob, an iced glass full of orange soda, and a small red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing.

I continued to get myself some food: A slice of cheese pizza full of Italian sausages and green peppers, French fries with ketchup, a bottle of beer which was labeled as "Bud Light, and a bowl full of two scoops of chocolate ice cream.

I approached the same woman who I confronted this morning, but she paid no attention to me. I went on ahead and walked away, knowing everything here was free anyways. Elizabeth was busy reading a novel when I set the trays down.

Her eyes partially glanced upward, but then she put down the book and smiled brightly.

"Aww, how did you know I loved pork chops?"

I shrugged, grinning. "I suppose it was a lucky guess," I slid the tray in front of her and she started eating.

"Whatcha reading there?" I asked, shoveling in a mouthful of pizza afterwards.

"Oh! Angel recommended this book to me. It's called "The Hunger Games" and it's brilliant so far! I see why Angel was such a hardcore fan." Elizabeth read the back of the book while eating through her rice with gravy.

"That's good," I stuffed some more pizza in my mouth, fantasizing at how delicious it was. It was _way _better than any pizza I'd ever eaten back in Columbia, and even in the year 1913 itself. We finished our meal, talking about our experience with this time and all the friends we've made so far, excluding me.

I still wasn't comfortable with this time period, and Elizabeth surely wasn't either. But she is having a far better time getting the hang of everything around here than me. She even made a group of friends already! I suppose I'll consider Nolan and James my new "friends". I guess.

After cleaning up and disposing our trays properly, we stepped out of the cafeteria and decided to take a stroll around the base. With her arm hooked through mine and her head occasionally leaning on my shoulder, I felt at peace. The warmth of happiness bubbled up inside me and I smiled at the sight of her petite body cuddling up to mine.

"Booker?" she said my name, her head not leaving my shoulder.

"Hmm?" I grumbled.

"Do you like it here?" she asked.

"Why, of course. Maybe I don't a hundred percent trust these "Healers" but this place is definitely better than being stalked and hunted like wild animals above," I jerked my chin upward, symbolizing the upper outside world.

"Yeah, you're right." I could tell she was smiling even though I couldn't see her face. Suddenly her head rose upward and I found myself staring into her mesmerizing blue eyes. She laid a hand on my arm and seemed to hold me back from walking anymore. I slowed down my pace and eventually stopped, looking at her in concern.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing… It's just… Booker, have you ever wanted to have children sometime in your life?" The question was so random, so irregular, that I nearly dazed out and would've fainted at that very moment. I gazed at her in bewilderment, my eyes starting to widen.

"Excuse me?" I asked her, not sure I heard what she asked me.

"I said, would you ever like to be a father someday?" she switched up the question, her eyelashes fluttering and the faint curl of her red lips making me suspicious.

"Well, yeah, but not so soon. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering," she strutted away from me, her hips swaying. I couldn't help but feel an invigorating sensation within me, particularly around my groin area. I knew where this was going, but I oddly liked it. "Because…" she came up to me, her hands reaching up and bringing my face closer to hers. "I want to have children too…"

I looked at her, a grin beginning to form upon my lips.

"Are you saying…?"

"Yes," she grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the closet we recently had a "discussion" in, and where Louis interrupted us at. She pushed me inside and soon followed, closing and locking the door behind her. She sashayed toward me and I couldn't help but lean against a stack of cardboard boxes and grin. Her lips crashed into mine and her fingers glided through my coarse hair. My arms wrapped around her mid-section, heaving her up into my lap. She straddled my waist, her arms now all around my neck.

Her face lifted upwards as I left many kisses and hickeys upon her neck. She moaned softly and began to grind her hips into mine, making the bulge in my pants grow even bigger. We stripped away our clothes, one-by-one, admiring the looks of our nude bodies. Elizabeth was especially beautiful; her silky smooth skin was now a gorgeous tan color and her hair fell had grown longer over time. It fell in waves down her back when she undid the incognito bow in her hair that discreetly kept it up.

Compared to her flawless figure, I looked like a battlefield on two legs. Scars crisscrossed my abdomen and left slash marks all over my arms, shoulders, and back. The two bullet holes that recently pierced my stomach were healed and were now scars, but looked fresher than the other permanent markings on my body.

The ecstasy coursing through my body was intense; it caused my legs to become wobble and nearly collapse underneath me, but I stood tall so that I wouldn't bring Elizabeth down with me. I've never felt anything like this. Even with the many kisses I shared and women I slept with, this time was different.

My mind began to blank out into a trance as Elizabeth and I became one. Our bodies melted together in the most pleasurable way possible. From that point on, I was caught in the hypnotizing and irresistible dream that I never knew would come true.

I woke up and found myself lying on the flat concrete floor. My body was tangled with Elizabeth's, and we laid upon the pile of our clothes strewn out beneath us. I came to the sudden realization on what had happened, in which I grinned widely. The fact that we passed out in the supply closet was pathetic, but it was all worth it.

Elizabeth was still fast asleep in my arms, her petite body curling up around mine. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to my chest. She stirred briefly, pressing a cheek firmly against my pectoral. I smiled down at her, admiring every little thing about her. She looked beyond angelic as she slept.

A sudden loud knock startled me and I nearly jumped up. Elizabeth awoke, but wasn't adjusted just yet to reality. I grabbed a random article of clothing to cover my groin area and went up to the door. I slowly twisted the doorknob and opened, just sticking my head out to see who it was.

A very aggravated Louis stood there with his arms crossed and a scowl settling upon his eyebrows.

"_Ce que l'enfer! _ Where the fuck have you been?!" he spat, his French accent arupty getting thicker each time he spoke.

"Uh, I can explain!" Were the only available words I could choke out at the moment.

Louis was silent, staring me down with piercing blue eyes full of rage. He then swiped a hand down his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"I'm only going to ask once, nicely and calm… Where have you been?" he asked, his voice returning to a normal understandable tone, but with the French accent still faintly lingering around.

"Elizabeth and I were…just hanging out in here." I smiled, trying to make it sound as logical as possible.

"Really? In the closet?" Louis asked.

"Uh-huh!" I nodded, giving him a thumbs-up with one hand.

He sighed, once again folding his arms across his chest. "I know what you two did in there, and frankly, I don't care. But you better not sneak away like that again, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir," I gave him a small salute.

"Good. Now… get ready. You guys have a lesson with Marcel momentarily." As he began walk away, he then turned around as if a thought suddenly sprang into his mind. "Oh, and please clean up after yourselves in there. It would be much appreciated."

* * *

**If you're interested on what the JT song was, it's called "Tunnel Vision". Give it a listen. It's amazing.**


	7. Into the Daylight

**Heyyy there. I apologize for not updating in a while. School has once again been a black hole on my free time. Due to that, I haven't had the time to write much. I will try my best to update as soon as possible.**

**Here's the next chapter; I hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

I stepped back into the utility closet after Louis had stormed off and closed the door quietly. Elizabeth still laid on the ground tangled in both hers and my clothing. Her bare back was turned toward me and I could see the steady rise and fall of her chest as she slept dreamily on. I walked over to her and bent down, gently shaking her shoulder. Her body shifted and turned over to face me. Her brown hair cascaded down her forehead, barely covering her eyes, and a twinkle glittered in her baby blues.

"Booker?" she groggily murmured, rubbing her eyes with a hand.

"Mornin', sweetie," I gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Why'd you wake me?" she asked, pulling what looked like to be my gray shirt over her exposed chest.

"We gotta meet up with Marcel. Apparently we have teachings today." I explained to her.

She let out a frustrated groan and rolled over away from me once again. "Can we not go…" a deep sigh secreted out from her.

"I'm afraid not. Louis knew what we were up to and we have to go… His orders." I reached over to snatch my shirt from her enclosed hands. She bolted upward at my sudden move, glaring at me.

"Wait… he caught us_ doing _it?" Elizabeth's eyes widened in both horror and embarrassment.

I chuckled. "No, no, he didn't. I heard him knock on the door this morning, while you were still asleep, and he suspected we did it."

Elizabeth turned red and looked down. I just grinned at her and began digging my clothes from the disorderly pile. I successfully found all the pieces for my outfit and started putting them on as fast as I could. I didn't want to keep Marcel waiting, or else Louis will have a lot of not-so-nice words to say to the two of us.

Once putting on my boots and black pants, I reached down to grab my shirt and hoodie, but Elizabeth caught my eye. She was still sitting there in the nude, staring at me with charming eyes.

"You should start getting dressed." I told her as I placed my arms through the shirt and slipped it over my head.

"Hmm, I will after you. I enjoy watching you get changed." She purred, her finger twirling a lock of hair around.

I let out a breath of laughter. "Okay then,"

Just like she had promised, she slid into her clothing once I was all covered up. We quickly cleaned up the room, making sure there were no clues to anyone being in here. However, the strong smell of sex and sweat lingered around the room. I found a bottle of "Febreeze" or as it read on the cover, a freshening spray.

I sprayed it all around the place: on cardboard boxes, dirty rags, bottles of cleaning products, and even our own clothing.

"Doesn't it smell refreshing?" I asked Elizabeth as I placed the bottle back on the shelves.

She coughed. "Yeah, it smells like a bouquet of flowers exploded in my nose."

I laughed at her snarky response and we exited the room, me firmly shutting the door behind us. The walk to the library wasn't too far, merely about ten steps away. I peeked in and immediately saw Marcel sitting at his desk, engrossed in a book.

Elizabeth and I stepped in and almost like an alarm had gone off, Marcel placed his book down and looked at us.

"Ah, I see you made it." He said, his face free of any emotion whatsoever. He didn't look one bit angry, nor happy to finally see us.

"Yeah, sorry for being so late," I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly.

"Oh, it is absolutely fine. Louis told me what you two had been up to." Marcel stated, his fingers intertwined on the desktop in front of him.

Crimson painted Elizabeth's cheeks and she looked away shyly. I just nervously tapped my foot and looked at Marcel plainly.

"Don't be shameful; it's just part of life," Marcel's lips curved upward in a tiny smile. "Come, sit down here. We have much to go over."

The two of us walked over to the desks facing Marcel and we placed ourselves in them.

"Okay. Do you remember what we learned last time we were here?" he asked, placing his reading glasses on.

"World War I." Elizabeth quickly jumped to answering his question.

"Exactly. What do we know from it?"

"It began after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria Hungary. The war consisted of two opposing alliances: the Allies, based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire, and the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The war lasted from 1914-1918 and there were many casualties and devastation. After it had ended, foundations were both destroyed and built." Elizabeth smiled at all of the information she still had assembled in her mind.

"Very good, Elizabeth!" Marcel cheerfully exclaimed, smiling at her. "How about you, Booker?" He looked at me. "Do you have anything else to add?"

I thought for a moment, but gave up as I figured nothing would pop in my head. I shrugged while saying, "Nope. Mostly all what she said."

Marcel gave a quick nod and reached for a thick textbook on the corner of his desk. He opened it and flipped through a few pages. "Okay, we're moving on our next topic: World War II."

"Ah, great, another war?" I annoyingly muttered, crossing both arms over my chest and sinking deeper into my seat.

"Yes, it is quite depressing." Marcel spoke softly. "But that was the past; it's over and gone with. I'm just here to teach you what happened."

"Okay. Teach on then, O great and powerful Marcel," I waved my hand at him, causing him to cast a glare at me. Elizabeth gently smacked my arm and I side-glanced at her. She arched an eyebrow at me and shook her head, mentally telling me not to do that again.

I rolled my eyes and nodded, but shot a sly grin at her afterwards. She seemed to mimic me and rolled her eyes as well.

Marcel cleared his throat and flipped through some more pages of the book before landing on his destined one. "Okay, anyways… World War II was a global military conflict lasting from September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945. This war involved most of the world's nations, including all of the great powers that eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. The war began in 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Germany, Slovakia, and the Soviet Union (17 days later) and with the subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth."

Elizabeth had her notebook out again and scribbled down notes. She looked up and raised her hand in which Marcel responded with a, "Yes?"

"Did the Allies and the Axis have the same countries as before in World War I?" she asked.

"Mostly. The Allies had many more countries join their ranks though. The Axis still had Germany, but no Austria-Hungary. However, Japan joined along with them. They grew out of the Anti-Comintern Pact, an anti-communist treaty signed by Germany and Japan in 1936. Italy joined the Pact in 1937."

"Italy joined them as well?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, they did eventually. There was also another major conflict going on during the war: the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler was the leader of "Nazi" Germany at the time."

"Nazi? What's that?" Elizabeth said.

"It's what Germany called themselves while Hitler was in charge. Basically they caused genocide."

"Genocide against whom?" I asked, finally speaking up after my silence.

Marcel sighed. "I was getting there… Hitler had a belief that all Germans were supposed to have fair hair and blue eyes, something most Jews didn't have. He stated that all Jews were a major threat to everyone and wanted them all to be eradicated. In reality, the Jewish people were nothing more than normal innocents."

"So… what happened to the Jews?" Elizabeth asked, a sparkle glittering in her eyes.

"This is the sad part, I'm afraid. Hitler ordered his Nazi troops to capture as many Jews as possible. They would either kill them on sight or send them immediately to concentration camps. These camps were terrible places where they would torture and terrorize the Jews. Starvation, disease, shootings, poisonous gas chambers, and slavery were all some of the few ways that the Nazis would take them out with."

"That is just awful…" Elizabeth murmured.

"Yes, I agree," Marcel said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"What ever happened to Hitler?" I asked.

"When the Axis were very close to surrender, well, at least Germany was, he committed suicide in fear of being captured and put through consequences due to his crimes." Marcel explained.

I sat back in my seat and muttered, "That bastard deserved it…"

"Yes…" Marcel trailed off for a second and soon got back on topic. "Anyways, the war in Europe ended with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945. Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on July 26, 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 August and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, and the Soviet Union having declared war on Japan by invading Manchuria, Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending the war in Asia and cementing the total victory of the Allies over the Axis."

"Wow… what an ending…" Elizabeth breathed out a sigh.

Marcel hummed an agreement. "It really is,"

"Why in the world did the United States bomb Japan? I mean, I understand that they were the bad guys in this, but really? A nuclear bomb?" I frowned at the fact.

"Oh! Silly me; I forgot to add in one more part. The reason why America bombed Japan was because the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It was a matter of revenge." Marcel said.

"Oh… well in the case, that's fine." A small grin formed on my lips. "But I do feel pity for the innocents that died in that…"

"I think we all do," Marcel said. He looked at the watch on his wrist. "Looks like class is over. I had a good lesson; thanks, you guys."

"You're welcome." Elizabeth said, closing and putting her notebook back into her pocket.

"When do we have class again?" I asked.

"Tomorrow would be good, but if you guys are _busy_," he slightly winked and a mischievous grin appeared upon his lips. "-that would be okay. Perhaps sometime before this week is over with."

"Okay, thanks. See you later." Elizabeth and I both left the library and made our way to the cafeteria. We hadn't eaten since yesterday and the hunger was paining us. But just as we were through the doors of the cafeteria, someone called out to us.

"Hey guys!" My head cranked around to see Nolan and James making their way over to us. "What's up?" Nolan asked, showing off a wide smile. He looked overly happy than what he usually is, and that's all the time.

I shrugged. "We were just going to get something to eat,"

"Ah, nice timing!" Nolan exclaimed. "Me and James were going to grab some lunch, but we were going… to the _above world…" _he said it in a soft whisper, as if it was curse to say. "Do you guys wanna come along?"

"Above world? What the hell do you mean?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Like… up in New York City. You know how we're living in an underground hideout underneath the city, right? Well, we were planning on going to the outside, or above," he motioned with his hands by pointing upward. "-world,"

"I thought we weren't allowed to leave," Elizabeth asked, standing close to me and gripping onto my arm.

"That's right, but we're gonna be rebels here and go anyways." James said.

"What if we get caught?" I asked.

"We won't. Louis is too busy focusing on other big issues and duties to notice that we were gone. Plus, we will only be out for about an hour. That's enough time to get some chow," James said.

"Okay… what if other people catch us?" I sulked at the idea of getting into major trouble and suffering the consequences.

"Pfft, they won't care. As a matter of fact, the two guards who are stationed at the tunnel which is the way out of here are good friends of ours. They'll let anything like that slide, but for a price." Nolan said.

"Price?" Elizabeth frowned.

"Yeah, money likewise. No worries, I'll pay." Nolan stated.

"Okay, fine, we'll come with you." I said. "But if we get caught, it's all on you two's asses."

Nolan raised his arms mid-way, grinning. "Yeah, yeah, big guy. Sure thing. Come on then, this way." We followed him and James over to another connecting corridor. Before slipping through, we looked around to make sure no one was spying on us. Luckily, no one was.

All of us stealthily sneaked through the hallway and onwards to the tunnel. Just as Nolan had said, two young men were guarding the ladder and enclosed pothole opening to the outside world. They spotted us and bristled at first, but soon softened up as they recognize who it was.

"Oh, hey there!" One of them called out.

"Sup, Kevin?" Nolan greeted the one who acknowledged their appearance.

"Nothing much. Greg and I are just guarding here. I'll tell you, this is a boring job…" Greg chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"I can only imagine," Nolan said. "Hey, me and some friends here are gonna go up and get some lunch."

"Really? The cafeteria not serving anything good?" Kevin asked.

"No, no, we just want to show our new friends the taste of New York City. Also, James and I miss those good ole Philly cheese steaks." Nolan groaned at the thought of his favorite food.

"You guys actually made new friends?" Kevin laughed.

"Yeah, this is Booker and Elizabeth," Nolan pointed to the two of us.

"Oh ho ho, hi there pretty lady," Kevin raised both eyebrows flirtatiously at Elizabeth.

She glared at him and looked away. I shot him a look full of daggers and stood protectively in front of her.

"I wouldn't do that, man," Nolan said to Kevin. "You see, Elizabeth here is Booker's girl. I wouldn't hit on her if I were you. I learned the hard way…" He looked at me in which I scowled menacingly back to him.

"Oh I see," Kevin looked at me apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that, bro."

I let out a huff of irritation. "Whatever,"

"Alrighty, well, I guess we'll be on our way then. You guys okay with that?" Nolan asked as he walked over to the ladder with the rest of us following after.

"Yeah, of course. Just don't dawdle around too long or else Louis will have our heads for sure." Kevin said.

"Don't worry." And with that, Nolan began climbing up the ladder and opened the pothole. One by one, James followed after him, then Elizabeth, and I took up the rear.

"Have fun up there, pretty boy." Kevin called up to me before I went through the opening.

I responded with a, "Fuck you," and climbed out into the bright sunlight and the impending craziness of the city.

* * *

**Make sure to leave a review or perhaps favorite and/or follow :)**


End file.
